On the Prowl w/thoughts on US Politics, AI & Other Thoughts (with a Brief Update)

The National Rifle Association endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday, after months of declining to support a candidate in the GOP primary race.

"In all of history there's always been a time and a place when patriots stand up and rise up against the decree of the elites and shout, 'No more. Get your hands off my freedom,'" NRA president Wayne LaPierre told a roomful of gun owners on Friday. "That time and place is now."

Read the full story here.What is unfortunate is that anyone who does not seem to agree with the NRA is not a patriot and not an American. I also can't help but wonder why the NRA epitomizes such a culture of fear.Beyond the NRA itself, I could not help but be shocked at how Trump has continued to dominate the airwaves. CBSN, the online App by CBS News, was slated to carry his remarks live. He was on Megyn Kelly. Yet, he complained about "Media Bias". He also went after Bill Clinton in regards to rape allegations--this is as he immediately sent out a tweet about the potential terrorism on the EgyptAir Flight #MS804 as Greece, Egypt and France scrambled to find the wreckage. Although terrorism is certainly a possibility, it was a failure of leadership. I got into a twitter give and take with a few of Mr. Trump's fans on it. This is as the conservative media continues its' onslaught on Hillary Clinton with Karl Rove's latest comments about the "FBI Primary" as he speculated about a Hillary Clinton indictment. In the meantime, the Democratic Side is just as nasty--but what was interesting to note was the daily notations from the Fortune's Geoff Colvin as former Massachutes Governor William Weld entering the Libertarian Party Presidential contest:Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld said yesterday that he wants to run for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket alongside former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012, who is running again. What’s intriguing is that amid rampant talk about the hope and hopelessness of a third-party challenge to Donald Trump, one is actually taking shape under the radar. A Johnson-Weld ticket, should it be chosen at the party’s convention over Memorial Day weekend, would have no chance of winning – Johnson got 1% of the vote in 2012 – but in a year of surprises it could prove surprisingly attractive to voters already seeking an alternative to Trump and Hillary Clinton. A Fox News poll conducted earlier this week, before Weld’s announcement, showed that in a Trump-Clinton-Johnson race, Johnson drew 10% support.I agree with him in this regard: They have no chance of winning. However, they can potentially be a spoiler. It seems as if those who are perceived "outsiders" are prevailing--as epitomized by the election of the new President of the Phillipines who has promised to kill off all the criminals.Beyond the political scene, though, this truly blew me away:

What it is: Baker & Hostetler has just announced a new hire: Ross, the world's first artificially intelligent lawyer. Ross is the brainchild of IBM Watson, and it's been designed to "read and understand language, postulate hypotheses when asked questions, research, and then generate responses (along with references and citations) to back up its conclusions," as Futurism describes. "Ross also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge the more you interact with it."

Why it's important: A powerful glimpse into the future of professional services. Currently, even the most diehard legal assistants need time off for human needs. Ross doesn't have that problem -- and as a result, Ross can parse case law, secondary sources, legislation, and new court decisions around the clock, even delivering its curated results in natural language.

Spotted by Darryl Kraemer

I picked this up as I read thru Abundance Insider that is published by Peter Diamandis of the X-Prize Foundation. This is a window into the future that no one seems to be talking about--or wants to talk about. This is as Google is continuing its' march with the development of Tensor Processing Unit and IBM is pushing ahead with True North which is helping to power on Watson. One of the reasons #Outsiders was conceived was to help change the conversation.

This has also been a week that the World has been witness to unprecedented turmoil in the Retail Space as traditional retail players have been losing ground, shutting stores and trying to see what the future holds. Target missed its' numbers, Macy's is shuttering stores and GAP is considering creating a store on Amazon.com--as Amazon continues to dominate ever more. Walmart seems to be holding its' own as groceries seems to have been its' savior--although that will not apparently last long as Amazon is moving aggressively in that space as well. It is also of note how two of the early stalwarts are apparently on the verge of withering away: Yahoo and Pandora. Yahoo is apparently getting lowball offers and Pandora is trying to sell itself.

What will the future bring...a question to ponder as the weekend looms.....(Update: It is quite ironic how the White House Went on lockdown right after the Trump speech and endorsement: